The present invention relates to user-premises networking, to allow different types of systems and/or communications devices to utilize one in-home network to communicate with each other and to access a range of outside communication services.
Today, the typical home has a wide variety of electrical and electronic devices performing many diverse and unrelated functions. To the extent if any that these devices are interconnected or connect to the outside world, the connections at most form isolated islands of connection or communication.
For example, if the homeowner has a television and a video cassette recorder, these elements connect to each other, to the AC power grid and to a source of analog video signals, such as an antenna or a cable television link. The television set may also connect to an output from a video game. Typically, these connections are analog.
The home-owner also will have an audio system, often comprising interconnected components such as an amplifier, a compact disk (CD) player and a tape recorder. A tuner connects to an antenna or other RF source, and the amplifier provides connections to one or more sets of speakers. In most installations, the audio system is connected together by various analog wiring separate from that used to interconnect the video system components.
There have been some proposals for interconnecting in-house video systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,399 to Goodman et al. discloses a system for transmitting signals between video components over residential telephone wiring, to enable one VCR to supply television signals to multiple television receivers in different rooms. Control signals also are sent over the telephone wiring to control the VCR. The Goodman system provides communications mainly for video components. U.S. Pat. No. 5,130,793 to Bordry et al. discloses a tapping technique for such a system, to enable baseband transmission of audio and video signals over twisted-pair wiring. These in-house video communication systems utilize analog communications and provide only limited communications capabilities. They also do not provide communications to the outside world.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,961 to Hylton et al. discloses a digital video system, providing wireless distribution of selected broadband programs from a public network to individual terminals and associated TVs within the premises. There is a suggestion that one of the video terminals might provide an interface to a personal computer (PC), to enable the PC to communicate via the digital network.
Today, telephone station sets or other telephone equipment separately connects to an analog or integrated services digital network (ISDN) telephone line. Typically, the telephone line does not interconnect to the video or audio equipment.
Most appliances in the home stand alone. For example, the heating and air-conditioning system, the hot water heater, the stove, the microwave, the refrigerator, etc. all have connections to power, but not to any type of central control. Some homes do have alarm systems, and some such systems will monitor some internal conditions or appliances, like the temperature maintained by the heating and air-conditioning system; but these systems only provide internal alert signals and/or communications to some outside agency, typically over the telephone line. Again, the system entails wiring that is separate from that used for other purposes, such as audio and video entertainment.
Many individuals now have their own personal computers (PCs), and today, the typical PC includes some type of modem for communication. Typically, the modem provides a data link through either the telephone line or the cable television network to enable access to the public Internet. Although there have been some proposals to interconnect the PC to alarm systems, appliances and/or video and audio components, such interconnections have not been particularly successful. Often, the interconnection has been rather limited, for example, to just allow the PC to control an appliance or in-home lighting or just to allow the PC to monitor the alarm system. In other proposals, the PC interconnection provides more comprehensive communications, but the interconnection has been overly complex and expensive. Interconnection to a television, for example, typically requires a set-top terminal or adapter with almost as much hardware as in the PC itself.
Also, with the increasing popularity of PCs, many people now find that they have more than one PC in their homes. Many of these individuals also are finding reasons to interconnect their PCs, to share certain resources such as a high-speed Internet access link or a printer or to exchange data for various purposes. A number of products have recently reached the market to allow in-home networking. However, these products have focused entirely on the PC-to-PC communications. Most of these products essentially provide a local area network (LAN) in the home, which is some form of scaled down network similar to those used in commercial enterprises. For example, Tut Systems offers a line of home networking product under the name HomeRun. A network constructed from the products provides a 10 Mb/s LAN over a single pair of twisted wires. However, the LAN provides data connections only for computers and related peripheral equipment. As such, there is no communication with many of the other systems and appliances in the home. Other systems, such as the audio and video systems, remain as separate analog only systems with no communication over the in-house LAN. Also, existing home data network products provide little or no outside access, except possibly through a shared computer resource such as a modem or the like within one of the PCs.
As shown by the above discussion, the existing in-home systems have remained isolated, either as individual units or small collections of interconnected units. There has not been a unified interconnection strategy. Also, access by each system to wide area communications, external to the premises, has been dedicated to one external network. The video system components receive television programming from a cable or antenna carrying channels of a set of predetermined frequencies. Audio system components similarly receive radio programming from an antenna carrying channels of another set of predetermined frequencies. Alarm systems communicate via ISDN or POTS type telephone lines and the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The PC may use a telephone line, ISDN, DSL or cable modem, but typically PC communications for one user access only one such external media.
A need therefore exists for a home network product that provides a simple common interface usable by a wide range of systems and appliances within the premises. Such a network should offer digital communication capabilities to the different devices coupled to the network. Also, the network should provide access to two or more communications media connected to public network facilities. Preferably, one or more of the outside network connections should provide broadband digital capabilities. It is desirable that the in-home network enables virtually all devices to selectively access any or all of the external communication resources.
To meet the above stated needs and objectives, an in-home digital network comprises a central node providing multiple connections to outside networks, preferably including at least one broadband network. The central node or xe2x80x9cgatewayxe2x80x9d provides an open interface over the in-home network media, to enable various devices to communicate over the in-home network and to access external communication resources. The open-interface concept contemplates a physical interface to the in-home network and a software interface between the gateway and communication elements or interfaces associated with various devices on the in-home network. Adapters or interface cards supporting the physical and software interfaces can provide in-home network access for virtually any type of electronic device.
In one aspect, the inventions relate to in-home networks. Such a network includes a gateway having interfaces to a plurality of external communication networks, an interface to at least one in-home communication media and a gateway. The network also includes the in-home media, coupled to the appropriate interface in the gateway. Each device accessing the in-home network connects to the media through a device specific interface. There will be different interfaces for enabling access by different types of customer premises devices. Each device specific interface provides physical access to the media as well as a standard software interface, referred to as an application program interface (API) to enable communication over the media and access to in-home and/or external communication services through the gateway. Each device specific interface also provides appropriate signal conversions and functional interfacing, to enable operation with the particular type of customer premises device.
Hence, each device specific interface includes a physical media interface for coupling to the internal network media and a common application program interface for controlling communication through the physical media interface. The processor of the gateway executes a software program to perform routing control in a manner that is compatible with the control of communication by the application program interface. All of the device specific interfaces utilize this common application program interface. The different types of device interfaces, that is to say for connection of different devices, have different physical interfaces for coupling to the actual devices. Each different device specific interface also has an application program, which is specific to the type of connected device, but is compatible with the common API.
In accord with another aspect or invention, a gateway provides communications internal to a premises and provides access to multiple external communication networks. The gateway includes an internal interface and two or more external network interfaces. The internal interface is for coupling to an internal communication media and is compatible with communications over that media. Each external network interface provides a digital communication connection for a different type of wide area network link. At least one of the external network interfaces provides a broadband digital communication connection. The gateway also includes a router, coupled between the internal interface and the external interfaces, for selectively routing digital information to and from the interfaces. A program controlled central processing unit within the gateway controls the operation of the router. The control enables digital communication between devices coupled to the internal media. The routing control also enables selective communications of the devices via the external network interfaces. A software program, executable by the central processing unit, is compatible with a common application program interface implemented by interfaces for providing the coupling of the devices to the internal communication media.
The preferred embodiment of the gateway also includes a firewall. The firewall is coupled for communication with the external network interfaces and is coupled to the router. The firewall provides security on communications via the wide area network links.
In the preferred embodiments, the internal and external interfaces take the form of plug-in cards. As such, it is relatively easy to add, remove or change cards as desired, to provide the interconnections currently appropriate for a particular customer""s premises. By using available interfaces, it is possible to install the inventive gateway so as to provide selective connections to any desirable combination of two or more of: telephone lines (POTS, ISDN, DSL, T1, etc.), coaxial cable links for cable modem service or for more advanced digital broadband cable services, wireless digital communication networks, and/or local or wide area data networks outside the premises. Within the premises, the gateway may interface to telephone wiring, the in-home power line circuitry; an in-home wireless link, a customer premises local area network, or the like as well as combinations of two or more of these in-home media.
The in-home media and associated device specific interfaces enable connection of virtually any electrical or electronic device within the premises to the network. In this manner, telephones, computers and peripherals, appliances, alarm systems and video and audio entertainment systems all can communicate via a unified in-home network. Also, any or all of these in-home devices may communicate with external systems, via the interfaces to the public networks provided through the gateway.
Other aspects of invention relate to the program code software of the gateway and/or the device specific interfaces, as may be carried on or installed in one or more computer readable mediums. The program code is for use in a system for providing data communications within a premises and data communications access to wide area network links. The executable code includes two modules or programs, one for a central processing unit of the gateway the other for the device specific interfaces. The programming for the central processing unit controls the data communications within the premises and the data communications access to the wide area network links. The programming for the central processing unit implements these control functions in a manner compatible with a predetermined application program interface. The programming for the device specific interfaces interacts with the programming for the central processing unit to enable a device connected to each device specific interface to communicate through the system. The programming for these interfaces implements the predetermined application program interface for interaction with device specific higher level functions of a respective interface.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.